Wine bottle, bowl, and plum branch, from the series "Two Famous Products from Bizen Province (Bizen meibutsu futashina)"

Art Historical Context

In the early 19th century, Japanese artist Yashima Gakutei crafted this exquisite color woodblock print, *Wine Bottle, Bowl, and Plum Branch*, around 1823. Part of the series *Two Famous Products from Bizen Province (Bizen meibutsu futashina)*, it celebrates the region's renowned specialties—likely evoking Bizen's famed pottery (seen in the bowl) alongside plums and perhaps local sake or wine. Measuring just 21.9 × 19.4 cm in the intimate shikishiban format, this print invites close contemplation of its refined still-life composition. As a *surimono*, a type of privately commissioned woodblock print, it exemplifies elite Edo-period artistry. Unlike mass-produced ukiyo-e, surimono were luxurious New Year's greetings or poetic albums, often featuring embossing, mica, and vibrant colors achieved through precise carving and multiple color blocks. Gakutei, a master of the genre, employed delicate lines and subtle shading to render the translucent bottle, textured bowl, and blooming plum branch with poetic realism. This work highlights Japan's cultural reverence for *meibutsu*—famous local products—that fueled tourism and pride during the Edo era (1603–1868). Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Arts of Asia collection, it offers a window into how art intertwined commerce, nature, and seasonal beauty, delighting collectors with its elegance and wit.

About the Artist

Yashima Gakutei · 1786–1868

Yashima Gakutei (c. 1786–1868), born in Osaka as the illegitimate son of a Tokugawa shogunate samurai named Hirata, adopted the name from his mother's subsequent marriage into the Yashima clan. Little is documented about his early years beyond these familial ties, but he pursued artistic training under the esteemed ukiyo-e masters Totoya Hokkei and Katsushika Hokusai, absorbing their precision in ...